Daston and Park - Wonders and the Order of Nature - Against Wonder, Monsters selections

Chapter 3: Wonder Among the Philosophers

Positive Light of Wonder

• Intellectual traditions (mid-12th to mid-15th century) present wonder in a positive context.

  • Response to the Christian God and creation involves both awe and pleasure.

  • Elevates those experiencing it, e.g., Suger of Paris experiences elevation through the Crista gems, while nobles at the Feast of the Pheasant find a sense of purpose in contributing to a crusade.

Ambivalence of Wonder in Natural Philosophy

• Contrast between positive views of wonder and its ambivalence in contemporary natural philosophy.

• Example: Adelard of Bath's "Qyaestiones naturales": presents wonder through questioning natural occurrences.

  • Poses seventy-six questions about the natural world (e.g., growth of plants, sea saltiness, and nature of stars).

  • Thunder described as a wonder that causes confusion, attributed to ignorance of natural causes.

Adelard's View on Wonder

• Emphasizes that wonder arises from ignorance rather than admiration.

  • Links wonder to fear and confusion instead of piety.

  • Critiques his nephew for marveling at effects: encourages looking for natural causes.

  • Suggests that philosophical inquiry involves questioning and understanding natural orders rather than succumbing to wonder.

Shift to Academic Interpretation of Wonder

• Move from court and cloister literature to natural philosophy, where wonder takes on different meanings.

• Natural philosophers view wonder as a reaction to the unfamiliar and unknown causes.

  • Develop tactics to dispel it, emphasizing a consistent natural order.

  • Distinguishes between wonders (praeter naturam) and rational philosophy focused on understanding nature.

Philosophers' Rejection of Wonder

• The rejection of wonder reflects the nascent state of Latin philosophy in the 12th century.

• Adelard’s efforts to revive classical knowledge—studying both Greek and Arabic sources—highlight the gap between different intellectual traditions.

• His work attempts to challenge the Augustinian tradition, emphasizing causality over wonder in understanding nature.

Aristotelian Perspective

• Contradicts Adelard by emphasizing the importance of wonder in philosophical inquiry.

• Aristotle purports that wonder initiates both the pursuit of knowledge and philosophical exploration.

• Followers like Avicenna amplify this view by linking wonder to inquiry, contrasting with Adelard's stance.

Scholastic Attitudes Toward Wonder

• Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries witness continued skepticism toward wonder in scholasticism.

• Roger Bacon echoes Adelard's sentiments, equating wonder with ignorance while noting its potential to spark inquiry.

• Albertus Magnus associates wonder with fear, depicting it as a result of encountering the unusual.

  • Thomas Aquinas maintains a complex view, recognizing wonder's potential link to pleasure while relegating it in importance.

  • Aquinas connects Christ's wonder to humility but interprets it as a defect in human experience.

Divine Associations with Wonder

• The association of wonder with divine signs complicates its philosophical reception.

• Philosophers like Albertus suggest that wonder signals ignorance in understanding the universe's causal structures.

• Illustrates tensions between empirical observation and supernatural explanations, as seen in the disregard for individual wonders over universal laws.

Conclusion: Philosophical Marginalization of Wonder

• This rejection stems partially from fears associated with a world perceived to rebel against divine order through wonders and prodigies.

• Epistemological ideals advocate for a science to achieve certain knowledge, distinguishing philosophers from practitioners of particular knowledge.

• Over time, divorced from empirical knowledge, wonder becomes more external and relegated to mere curiosities rather than central to natural philosophy.

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